East District X/C Championship: Livingston
December 7th, 2009Cross country action took Gala Harriers up to West Lothian on Saturday to the hilly grasslands of Dechmont Law Park in Livingston where the East District championships were held in chilly but fair conditions.
Up for grabs were both medals and selection for the inter-district contest in January in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park; but above all it was a chance to put the weeks of hard training to the test over demanding courses ranging from 3.2 and 4.3 kilometres for the juniors and 6.4 or 9.6k for the female and male seniors.
Paul Henney has pulled on a Gala vest only a handful of times but has always featured in top 15 places - and this race was no exception. He finished 9th in the Under 13 boys in a field of 43, in an impressive time of 12 minutes 59 seconds and should feel proud of his achievement. Rowan Marr, who has just moved up to the older U15 boys’ category and is therefore one of the youngest his age group also finished strongly in 9th in 16.33 over the 4.3k course, an excellent individual performance.
But it was in the U15 girls’ race that good team work ensured that three girls, Kerry Sandilands, Hannah and Emily Jones scooped the prestigious silver medal, coming second only to Edinburgh Athletic Club and beating big players Central AC into the bronze medal position. Kerry ran a fine race to take a good few scalps and achieve a grand 9th position in 18.35, with team mates Hannah and Emily 21st and 23rd in 20.23 and 20.33 respectively, giving the selectors for the inter-district boys’ and girls’ races plenty to think about.
Gala seniors weren’t able to field their strongest teams but nevertheless Rachel Fagan (28.02) Leanne Haining (30.19) Eileen Nicol (31.41) and Fiona Shepherd (32.08) ensured a very creditable 9th place for the women. Senior men were led home by an in-form Graeme Murdoch who finished 32nd out of 231 runners in 35.16. Team mates Fergus Johnston, running very competitively in 37.50, Alan Goodson very consistently in 40.32 and Martin Clarke (41.01) Tony Lunn (43.00) and Derrick Bryden (44.50) putting in solid performances to bring them back in 10th place in the masters’ category, 15th team overall.
Next outing for the Harriers is the 3rd round of the Borders Winter Cross Country series at Dunbar on Sunday 13th December at 11.30 for the juniors, 12 noon for seniors.
rachel Says:
Well done, Ladies, tough competition and great to have a full team out yet again!
Tony Says:
I agree with Rachel, well done Ladies for running and looking after my Poppy!